


haven't found her (yet)

by salazarastark



Category: Aquaman (2018), DC Extended Universe, Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Developing Friendships, Gen, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 08:54:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19269901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salazarastark/pseuds/salazarastark
Summary: It's a cold night when Billy runs into the big guy.





	haven't found her (yet)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilentSilhouette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentSilhouette/gifts).



> Betaed by Morbane. Thank you so much!

Billy ducks into the alley next to the bar, hoping there’s some food for him to grab out of the trash. He’s so hungry, and the latest Batson search turned up nothing. His mom was out there, he knows it, and desperately looking for him just like he's looking for her. He just has to keep fighting, has to keep  _ surviving _ .

But Philadelphia’s  _ cold _ at night, especially in the middle of January, and Billy knows it’s going to get below freezing tonight. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do, other than he’s probably going to have to head to a shelter and get put back in the system, and once again be watched like a hawk while he tries to find his mom.

But it beats freezing to death, so Billy tries to remember where the closest shelter is. He’s busy with the cold and the hunger and the mental calculations, so he doesn’t even hear the light footsteps until they’re right behind him, becoming  _ obviously _ loud enough for Billy to hear, and he jerks to face the person behind him.

Billy swallows. Tall guy with big muscles and a beard and a scarred face. Billy has been really smart the times he’s on the street, and he’s been lucky with foster dads even if they were complete and total assholes in other ways, but he’s heard the stories from other kids he’s spent time with. All of their tips on how to survive encounters like these fly through his brain, because Billy knows that he can’t beat this guy in a fight. The idea of that is honestly laughable.

He takes a step back, which he knows is stupid as soon as he does it because it gets him further into this alley.

But the big guy doesn’t move forward, just looks at Billy and asks, “Kid, what are you doing out here?”

He shrugs jerkily. “Just looking for food,” he mutters, looking down in hopes that the man will think him strange and walk away. “I don’t want anything else.”

Big Guy sighs. “Where’s your home, kid?”

He doesn’t know how to answer this. He doesn’t have any place to go, but he doesn’t want him to know it. But there must be something in his posture that gives it away, because Big Guy just sighs again. “You don’t have one.”

Billy screws his eyes shut, and forces himself to nod. He thinks it would be useless to lie to him. This guy seems smart, and Billy’s too cold to think of a plausible one right now. He would see right through him.

“Okay, come inside and I’ll get you something to eat. We can figure out what to do with you after that.”

Billy shouldn’t do it, but if this guy wanted to do anything to him, he could do it now.

And he’s so hungry.

He takes a step closer, and the guy just turns around and heads into the bar.

"Come on, I don't have all day." Billy shifts his backpack higher up on his shoulders, takes a deep breath, and follows him inside.

It's warm, and Billy closes his eyes as the warmth curls up his body and settles into his bones, pin-pricking his hands and face in a blissful pain. Not many people are inside the bar, not with the weather. The clock says 12:23, and that makes sense considering the people who are here are sleeping in booths, heads on their table. Billy sits down at a stool, grips the straps of his backpack even tighter.

Big Guy walks behind the bar and grabs a bowl of nuts that he slides over to Billy. "Eat these. I'll get you something more in a minute."

He doesn't have to be told twice. He gets to work, inhaling the nuts. He's not even a big fan, but right now, anything would taste good and that includes the salty nuts. The guy pokes his head into the kitchen and asks for a burger, and after a few short threats and statements about not caring that they were comfortable, the cook must start to make it as Big Guy comes back to the bar. He stares at Billy, green eyes sharp and piercing.

Billy’s scared, but he’s not going to look it. He keeps his gaze locked with the man, bringing a nut to his mouth and chowing down  _ hard _ on it, the noise cracking through the air and making Billy’s teeth hurt.

The man’s lips twitch. 

"What's your name, kid? I'm Arthur."

"Billy," he replies. Normally he would give a fake one, but he trusts the man in front of him even though he knows that's stupid. 

He could still try something. You don't survive on the streets or the system very long if you think you can trust every kind smile and sweet voice.

Except this guy has neither and Billy thinks that means something.

Arthur nods. "Okay, nice to meet you, Billy. Now where are your fucking parents?"

The question slows down his eating, and Billy looks sullenly down at the bowl, refusing to look back up. The usual stories run through his head, but he gives them up and decides on the truth. "I lost them a long time ago, and I just haven't found them yet." He swallows the knot in his throat. "But I will one day. Don't worry about that."

Arthur's fingers tap on the bar. His mouth twists. "Kid, I lost my mom years ago. Don't count on the fact that you'll find them."

He ignores his burning eyes. "Don't say shit like that."

He can imagine how pitying Arthur looks right now. “She left me a compass,” he adds. “She wants to find me just as much as I want to find her.”

“A compass,” Arthur says in disbelief. “She left you a compass.”

Billy nods. “You don’t understand.”

Arthur sighs, and Billy feels like he’s about to speak before the smell of a burger wafts through the air. He looks up, and his stomach growls as the cook shoves it towards him and gives Arthur a dirty look. He ignores it completely and the cook goes stomping back to the kitchen to get comfortable again.

Arthur nudges the plate just a little, and Billy descends.

His last foster family was  _ horrible _ when it came to food. It was all bland and small portions and nothing really good. This burger is the best thing he’s had in weeks, and before he knows it, he’s finished the burger and is chowing down on the fries.

“Damn kid, what’s the last time you ate?”

Billy shrugs. “Just hungry.”

“I can tell.” Arthur folds his arms over his chest. “Now, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on with what?”

“You just told me you don’t have parents. I’m going to have to call  _ someone _ .”

Billy’s blood freezes, and the fry he had in his fingers falls out. “No you don’t. You don’t have to tell anyone.”

“Kid, you’re like . . . twelve. I’m not letting you go back onto the cold streets. Eat your fries while I grab the phone.”

“Thirteen,” Billy mutters, mind whirling as he thinks about how fast he can run out of here. Arthur has long legs, he’ll probably catch him before too long. Arthur shrugs.

He hears Arthur place the call, and then he’s talking to someone, but they must say something that he doesn’t like because it ends with him swearing. “Fuck. Apparently, they ain’t comin’ ‘til nine tomorrow morning, so it looks like you’re stuck here kid.”

Billy tries to stifle his smile. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Arthur says with disgust. “There’s an apartment above here that’s used sometimes on long nights. You can take the bed while I grab the couch.”

That actually does make Billy feel bad. He doesn’t mean to put Arthur out. “You can have the bed.” It’s easier to sneak out if he’s using the couch too. Arthur’s eyes narrow however, like he knows exactly what Billy’s thinking. “No, it’s fine. You sleep on the bed.”

Damnit.

Billy finishes the fries while Arthur decides it’s early close, letting the cook go as soon as he finishes cleaning up and making the sleeping drunks leave. The food settles like a warm blanket, and Billy feels his eyes begin to close. He wants to stay awake so he can leave quickly, but he’s afraid that isn’t going to be a possibility now. Not when he feels like this. As he lays his head on the bar, just because it looks so comfortable, and Arthur flashes in and out of his vision as he puts up the chairs, he thinks that maybe he’ll just get up early in the morning. . . . 

*

The sun is shining when he opens his eyes, and Billy’s internal clock tells him that it’s something like ten o’clock in the morning. He squeezes his eyes shut. Fuck, he has to play nice with some social worker before he gets dragged away to another family that just won’t understand.

“Good, you’re awake.”

How the hell did he  _ know _ ?

Billy shoots up and turns wide eyes to Arthur, who’s standing in the doorway. Billy’s underneath some covers, still wearing everything but his shoes and backpack, both of which are in a chair in this room. Arthur must have carried him upstairs.

“I was thinking, kid,” he continues as he ignores Billy’s obvious surprise, “about what you said about your mom. How she wants to find you.”

Billy nods. That’s not a question. His mom  _ wants _ him. He knows this in his bones.

“Well, my dad says otherwise, but I don’t think my mom gave a shit about me. But I think that if your mom’s out there and wanting you, it really wouldn’t be right of me to stop that.”

“What are you saying?” No one has ever  _ really _ offered to help, and Billy can’t believe this despite the bubble of hope that begins to rise in his heart.

“I have a couple friends. One’s a detective. The other’s a reporter. Between the two of them, we can definitely find your mom. And until then. . . . Well, I guess you can stay with me.” Arthur shuffles his feet. “If you want to that is.”

He’s the first person who ever believed Billy when he says that his mom wants him. There’s only one response Billy can give, and with a big smile, he says, “Yeah. I’d like that.”


End file.
